Thabo Mbeki by Mark Gevisser
By the time he retired in 2009, Thabo Mbeki ruled South Africa, in effect, for the full 15 years of its post-apartheid democracy: the first five as Nelson Mandela's 'prime minister' and the next ten as Mandela's successor. No African leader since the uhuru generation of Nkrumah and Nyerere has been as influential. Mark Gevisser's long-awaited biography is a profound psycho-political examination of this brilliant but deeply-flawed leader, who has attempted to forge an identity for himself as the symbol of modern Africa in the long shadow of Mandela. It is also a gripping journey into the turbulent history and troubled contemporary soul of the country; one that tries to make sense of the violence of the past and confusion of the present. As Mbeki battles, in the current day, with demons ranging from AIDS to Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and finds his legacy challenged by the ever-growing candidacy of his would-be successor Jacob Zuma, "The Dream Deferred" tracks us back along the path that brought him here, and helps us understand the meaning of South Africa, post-apartheid and post-Mandela. This book is a story about home and exile. It is a story, too, of political intrigue; of a revolutionary movement struggling first to defeat and then to seduce a powerful and callous enemy, of the battle between unity and discord, and the dogged rise to power of a quiet, clever, diligent but unpopular man who seemed to take little joy in power but have much need for it.
Mark Gevisser has been working on Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred since 1999. He was born in Johannesburg in 1964 and educated at Yale. His journalism has appeared in dozens of publications in South Africa and abroad. Recently he has also been working as a documentary film maker, a museum exhibition designer, heritage consultant and television scriptwriter. He lives in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781868423507 |
| ISBN 10 | 1868423506 |
| Title | Thabo Mbeki |
| Author | Mark Gevisser |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Jonathan Ball Publishers SA |
| Year published | 2009-04-01 |
| Number of pages | 372 |
| Prizes | Winner of Alan Paton Award 2008 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |